Day 31 - Klamath Falls, OR to Sunnyvale, CA

We were anxious to get home so we got up at 5am and were riding by 6am. It was only a few miles to the border and we crossed into California at 6:30. The last few miles in Oregon were interesting. Starting at that time of the morning and with it being cool, in the fifties, the lake and pastures all had a low covering of mist. It looked like what you sometimes see in movies.

We rode highway 97 and could see Mt. Shasta very clearly. At a couple places we hit dense fog banks. It came and went quickly but it was interesting to ride through. Riding through the forested Shasta-Trinity area on I-5 is very pretty.

Once we dropped down in elevation and into Redding the temperature went up at least 20 degrees. One of the reasons we started early was to avoid some of the intense heat of the valley. We stopped in Redding at the Country Kitchen for breakfast. We were back on the road again just after 9am.

The I-5 route from Redding to Vacaville was pretty boring. We helped to pass the time and keep alert with what Walt called "interactive riding". We ride primarily in the right lane but would overtake and pass the cars and trucks in front of us. This routine of constantly overtaking and passing avoided the monotony of driving straight in a single lane and also kept us paying attention to all of the traffic around us.

We hit a big backup due to a major accident. A Greyhound bus had overturned and run off the highway. It gets really hot riding a motorcycle in the valley while moving so slowly that there is no air to cool you off.

Once we got onto I-80 the temperatures dropped some but the traffic became much heavier and we had to deal with the crazy drivers. We were quite glad that we were going into the bay area and not leaving it. There was a HUGE backup waiting to cross the Benecia bridge. Over 3 miles of 3 lanes of traffic stopped! I think it was only going to get worse as the afternoon progressed.

Once we were onto I-680 home felt really close. We had to stay alert because we also had to contend with the worst drivers of the entire trip.

We arrived home just after 2.

It is really good to be back.